Newsletter 3, Term 1- Week 5
Dear Parents,
Ferrymead trip: was a great success! Come and read the stories in Room 1!
Thankyou to Mr Hardy for driving the bus there and back.
Congratulations: to Hattie Richards, Caitlin Frazer & Rosa Millar for earning their pen licences last week. Keep up the neat work, girls!
New website: our new school website is NOW LIVE! Check it out!! It’s www.windwhistle.school.nz. Although it’s looking great as it is, we still have a lot of work to do on it and more things to add. So keep checking it out on a regular basis. Hugh Derham and his business “Creative Family” are doing a fantastic job for us! Many thanks to the team!
We are sending permission slips home to those who have not yet given permission for their children to appear in photgraphs on our web-site. For those who have already given permission we assume your permission is still granted unless you inform us otherwise.
Life Education Van: Unfortunately, Lisa Geddes has had to cancel our visit. She is on leave for personal reasons. We will see her (and Harold the Giraffe!) next year.
Glentunnel swimming sports: was an enjoyable day for all the children. Thank you to our Glentunnel friends for hosting this event. Everyone did really well in their swimming events. A special congratulations to our children who won a place in a race!
The results are as follows:
Taylor Cleland: 1st in 1 length dive, 1st in 1 width feet first, 3rd in 1 length freestyle and 2 lenths freesyle.
Michael Dempsey: : 2nd in 1 length dive, 2nd in 1 length freestyle and 3rd in 1 length backstroke
Caitlin Frazer: 1st in 1 length dive, 2nd in 1 length freestyle and 2 lengths freestyle, 2nd in 1 length backstroke.
Hattie Richards: 2nd in 1 length dive
Ben Millar: 2nd in 1 length freestyle
Ruby Smedley: 3rd in 1 width on abck with noodle
Lachlan Daly: 1st in 1 width freestyle, 2nd in 1 width freestyle with flutter board and 2nd in 1 width freestyle with noodle.
Parent Consultation Evening: will be held on Thursday 11 March from 7-9pm at Terrace Downs. Currently, education is in a period of great change. This year, we see the implementation of the revised New Zealand Curriculum and, as you know, teachers have been working hard on the redevelopment of the Windwhistle School Curriculum, in-line with this new document, for two years now. The National Government has also brought in National Standards this year.
We want to hear from YOU! Now is your chance to have your say in your child/ren’s education. This is so important to us, that we ask for at least one person to come along to this evening to represent each of our school families. Please complete and return the slip at the end of this newsletter BY FRIDAY 5 MARCH.
The evening will be an informal, social occasion, held in a similar format to last year. The Board of Trustees will provide you each with a free drink on arrival and there will be a short break during the evening for desserts. These cost between $6 and $10. We will have 4 ‘stations’ for you to work around, with questions to provoke discussion and paper to record notes and opinions on.
The outline for the evening is as follows:
7pm arrive. Glass of wine/beer provided by BOT. Welcome.
Split into 4 groups. Spend 15 minutes at each of the 4 stations.
8pm: Break for dessert (at own expense).
8.30pm: Report back from Kathy, Jane & I: summary of comments/ themes from each station. Discussion.
9pm: Close.
The 4 questions we would like you to think about are:
1.We are required to report to parents, at least twice a year, in a written format, on your child’s progress. What do you want this report to tell you? What should it contain?How do you want us to report to you using National Standards? How useful are portfolios? This will be led by Kathy Mehrtens.
2.Health & PE consultation: what are we teaching and why? Have we got our priorities right? Anything missing? This will be led by Charlotte Whitlow.
3.Windwhistle Qualities: what are they? How will we teach them? Any changes/ suggestions? This will be led by Jane McMillan.
4.How are we doing? This is your chance to have a free discussion about Windwhistle School. Record thoughts in PMI format (Plus, Minus & Interesting points). These comments will not be shared at the end of evening, but will be taken away and considered by the teaching staff. You do not have to put your name to your comments, unless you want us to respond to you personally. Feel free to bring up any issue you want, or ask questions of us.
If you have any questions prior to the evening, or there is an issue you wish to discuss in private, please give me a call. Thanks.
Reporting to Parents: with the introduction of National Standards for Reading, Writing and Mathematics this year, schools have to report to parents, family and whanau in plain English on how each student is achieving against these standards, at least twice a year. The reports must also include information on the next steps in learning for the student, how the school proposes to improve the student’s learning and how parents can support their child in this learning.
We can either use one of the reporting templates produced by the Ministry of Education, modify the current Windwhistle School report or design a new report format agreed upon by the Windwhistle School parents, teachers and BOT. We need your views on this please. We will have samples available to view for discussion on the night, but if you have examples that you like or if you could do a rough sketch of a design you’d like, please bring it along.
After the consultation evening I would like to form a small group of parents and myself (Kathy), to marry all the ideas together and in further consultation with the staff and BOT get a draft format out to you early term 2 for your further comment.
Deer Sale fundraiser: Please mark this date in your diaries: Thursday 15 April as we will be asking for parents to help. It’s also the same date as the postponement day for the Golf Tournament, so we may need to find 2 groups of parents on that day.
Museum trip: yes, it’s a busy, fun-filled term…. Our next trip is on FRIDAY 19 MARCH to the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch. We ask for a $2 donation per child for the museum. Cost for the Art Gallery (Room 1 only) is $1.00
Room 2 will be taking 2 units there – one called “Early Canterbury – Transport”, as this will be our focus for Term 2, and the other unit is a Maori Technology lesson, in preparation for lessons Kathy will be teaching.
Room 1 will be attending the “Toys & Games” lesson session at the Museum. We will then have lunch in the gardens, and will jump on a tram at 12.02 getting off at the Art Gallery. We will be there attending a lesson on Ruebin Patterson before leaving to rejoin Room 2 to come home. The cost for the Art Gallery is $1.00.
Both classes will also be enjoying a ride on the Christchurch tram, which costs $5 per child. Accompanying adults are free.
Timetable:
- 8.30am Meet at school
- 8.40am Leave school, travelling to Christchurch
- 9.50am Arrive & park cars
- 10am First lessons start at Museum: R1: Toys & Games,
- R2: Transport
- 11am R2 – Morning Tea
- 11.30am R1 – Lunch
- 11.30am R2 – Tram ride, then lunch
- 12.00 R1 – Tram ride
- 12.30 R1 – Art Gallery
- 12.30 R2 – Museum: Maori Technology lesson
- 2.30pm Lessons end
- 2.40pm Depart Christchurch
- 4pm (ish) Arrive back at Windwhistle School
We will be travelling by private cars and will need to leave school by 8.40am so that we arrive in plenty of time to start our first lessons at 10am. We will leave Christchurch at around 2.40pm and so expect to be back at school at approximately 4pm, depending on traffic. There will be no second primary bus run in the morning and no primary afternoon bus runs at all. Parents, please make your own arrangements for collecting your child/ren that afternoon.
Please complete and return the permission slip at the end of this newsletter to us at school BY FRIDAY 5 MARCH so that we can make all necessary arrangements. Any questions, please give us a call. Thank you.
Kind regards,
Charlotte Whitlow.
Visual Arts
As part of our 2010 Visual Arts programme, we have enlisted the help of Teena Richards, who has kindly agreed to help the Room 2 students with some pencil sketching and painting activities.
On Tuesday 16 March, Room 2 will be walking to Teena’s house at “the Point” to:
- watch an artist at work
- receive tuition on pencil sketching
- draw 2 pencil sketches (each)
We will leave school around 10:30 am after an early morning tea and return to school by 2:15 pm. Children will need their lunch, a drink bottle, school sunhat and clothing appropriate for the weather of the day (including a water proof jacket if rain is likely during the day.) One of our sketching activities will take place outdoors.
If the weather is really poor, Teena and I will transport the children by car.
Could you please fill in the permission slip and return it to school by Friday 5 March. Thank you. Any queries – please contact Kathy Mehrtens.
Room 1: Well done to all the children who gave the swimming a go at Glentunnel. They were certainly made to swim a long way!
Please parents could spelling and homework for Yrs 2 & 3 be returned on FRIDAY mornings. This gives me a chance to test your child then prepare the next weeks learning. I don’t have a chance to do it on a Monday morning so then your child will miss out for the week. Could you also please help them with their homework. This homework is important as it reinforces what we are doing in the classroom. It should only take 10 minutes a day.
Thanks. Jane
Notices:
For sale: unwanted Citrus-Pro biodegradable concentrated cleaning solution, 5 litres, only small amount used, make us an offer and it’s yours!
Amy Adams MP for Selwyn: Is holding a public meeting on National Standards for Selwyn parents. Wednesday 10th March at 7.00pm at the Lincoln Bowling Club in Lincoln.
South Malvern Netball
REGISTRATION DAY: Wednesday 3rd March, Glentunnel School Courts
Enquiries to Vicki Snow 3182-883
--------------------------------------------------------------
Malvern Football Club
Registration for the 2010 season - we would like to remind you that registration closes Friday 12 March 2010. Registration forms - www.selwynfootball.co.nz
or contact Martyn Curtis 3179561 / Michelle Kittelty 3188622.
TERRACE DOWNS CALLING ALL CANTERBURY SPORTS TEAMS...
2010 SPORTS CLUBS SPECIAL!
Pre-Season Team Day Out
Bring your team(s), their families and supporters out to Terrace Downs anytime after March 8th for the day and enjoy a friendly match or two on our sports field...which boasts one of the most awe-inspiring backdrops in NZ..! Free use of sports field, tennis courts, changing facilities/showers on the basis that everyone stays on for a bite to eat/drink afterwards. Group menu options available, starting from just $15pp..!
Conditions apply. Subject to availability.
For inquiries, please contact Lauretta McCorkindale
T. (03) 318 6943
E. lauretta@terracedowns.co.nz
Go to: www.terracedowns.co.nz for more information for sports teams and for a reference from the Canterbury Wizards.
Permission Slips